High pressure-tight passage means for materials,textiles,and the like in the form of wide webs or in the form of strands



3,450,359 Patented ug. l2, 1969 K 59 9 Int'. Ci. D06f 37/00; B65d 53/00; F26b 25/00 U.S. Cl. 68-5 2 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE The present invention reates to a pressure-tight passage arrangement for use in connection with a high pressure treatment vessel having an inlet for connection with said vessel and having an outlet for passing relatively wide goods, especially textiles, from said inlet to and through said outlet. The pressure-tight passage arrangement according to the present invention is characterized primarily by a plurality of passage means which are serially arranged with regard to each other and are so connected that pressure-tight intermediate chambers are formed while means are provided for adjusting the pressure in said intermediate chambers so that the pressure in said pressure-tight passage arrangement will drop stepwise. preferably at uniform steps, from said inlet to said outlet.

Pressure-tight passage means connected to high pressure vessels have become known for the treatment of material, especially of wide textile material, which operate at liquid or steam atmospheres at pressures of up to four atmospheres above atmospheric pressure and at corresponding temperatures. Such passage means consist primarily of two sealing strips forming diaphragms between which the goods pass while the inner pressure of the diaphragms is only slightly, from about 100 to 500 meter water column. higher than the inner pressure of the treatment vessel.

Passage means of the above mentioned type have proved extremely effective at the said pressures. However. when higher pressures are employed, it has been found that. in view of the great difference between the inner pressure of the boiler and the outer atmosphere, the sealing diaphragms or sealing strips are easily caused to flutier in view of the unevenness of the goods passing through between said diaphragms or in view of the shocklike increase in the pressure in the boiler due to chemical reactions. lf such fluttering occurs, too much of the inner pressure is relieved because the control can no longer follow such shock-like fluttering. Such fluttering could, of course, be prevented by increasing the pressure in the sealing diaphragms, but such a step would resu't in a considerable pressing and friction effect of the diaphragms upon the goods whereby the great advantage of diaphragms working only under a slight over pressure would be lost.

Present developments point to employing a still higher pressure for treating textiles in the near future, and since also the treatment will occur at higher temperatures, it is an object of the present invention to Provide a solution to the above mentioned problem.

It is another object of this invention to provide passage means of the above out'ined type, which will prevent the shock like fluttering of sealing diaphragms under low load even at higher boiler pressures.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear moreclearly from the following specification in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. l is a diagrammatic cross section through a passage means according to the invention which comprises a plurality of sealing strips and intermediate chambers.

FIG. 2 illustrates on a larger scale than that of FlG. l a cross section through a seaing strip the diaphragms of which are provided with longitudinal ribs.

The pressure-tight passage means according to the present invention is characterfzed in that two or more passage arrangements are arranged in serieswith regard to each otherand are so connected to each other that pressure-tight intermediate chambers .are formed while in said intermediate chambers the pressures are so controlled that they drop in steps, preferably uniform steps, in the direction from the high pressure in the vessel to the outer atmosphere. The control of the pressure in the intermediate chambers may be effected by correspondingly controlled steam pressure or by any desired gas which is advantageously so selected that it will simultaneously be used for treating the goods. Such gas may, for instance, be air or chlorine gas.

As pressure medium a'so liquids may be used, as for instance water or a washing liquid.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, FIG. l shows a high-pressure treatment vessel 1 adapted to receive goods to be treated. The high-pressure treatment vessel 1 is provided with an outlet slot 2 through which the goods 3 are passed into passage means 4 which is connected to said vessel l in a pressure-tight manner. The said passage means 4 is followed by further passage means 5 and 6 while pressure-tight intermediate chambers 7 and 8 are interposed between said passage means. The entire arrangement thus forms a kind of duct. The pressure-tight intermediate chambers 7 and 8 are subjected to pressures through conduits 9 and l0 the magnitude of these pressures being so selected that the pressure difference between the inner pressure in the boiler l and the outer atmosphere drops by substantially uniform steps. Thus, for instance. if the pressure in the interior of the boiler l amounts to 9 atmospheres, the pressure in the intermediate chamber 7 may amount to 6 atmospheres and the pressure in the intermediate chamber 8 may be selected to be 3 atmospheres so that the pressure differences ahead of and behind each passage means is only 3 atmospheres. As pressure medium in said intermediate chambers may be selected saturated steam, or gases, or liquids. If liquids are employed` a pneumatic buffer would have to be interposed. With gas media. advantageously such gases are selected which will have a treatment function on the goods and may for instance exert a neutralizing action upon the liquor in the goods. ln many instances, a washing liquor may advantageously be used as pressure medium` because in view of the pressure reduction a considerable evaporation will occur in the intermediate chamber whereby the washing liquor will be considerably heated up and a washing out effect will be obtained which exceeds 50%.

A pressure medium may also be obtained by combining gas and a meted water injection through spray pipes 11 arranged in the intermediate chambers which aids in the evaporation of the liquor in view of the reduction in pressure.

According to a further feature of the present invention, the fluttering of the diaphragms may be reduced somewhat by providing the sliding coats 13 on the diaphragms 12 with longitudinal ribs 14 which are arranged so that they are located precisely opposite to each other. In this way, similar to a labyrinth seal, a plurality of chambers 1S directly adjacent to the goods are formed 3 in which already a partial drop of the pressure occurs whereby a shock-like opening of the diaphragms in most instances will be prevented.

It is, of course, to be understood that the present invention is, by no means, limited to the particular arrangement shown in the drawing lbut also comprises any modications within the scope of the appended claims. Thus, the invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiment with diaphragm sealing means but can principally also be employed in connection with heretofore known pas sage means composed of rollers.

It may also be mentioned that while any suitable sliding coat 13 may be used in connection with the diaphragms 12, sliding coats consisting of the materials known under the trademark Teflon have proved particularly successful in connection with the invention,

What I claim is:

1. For use in connection with a high pressure treatment vessel, a pressure-tight passage arrangement having an inlet for connection with said vessel and having an outlet for passing relatively wide goods, especially textiles, from said inlet to and through Said outlet, which includes: a plurality of passage defining means arranged one behind the other in spaced relationship to each other, intermediate chamber means interposed between adjacent passage dening means in communication therewith and connected thereto in a pressure-tight manner, and means respectively communicating with the interior of said chamber means for respectively eiecting a pressure reduction in said chamber means so that the pressure drops stepwise from said inlet to said outlet and including spray means in said chamber means to intron duce pressure reducing liquid into the respective chamber means.

2. For use in connection with a high pressure treatment vessel, a pressure-tight passage arrangement having an outlet for passing relatively wide goods, especially textiles, from said inlet to and through said outlet, which includes: a plurality of passage defining means arranged one behind the other in spaced relationship to each other, pairs of diaphragm means respectively arranged in said passage dening means, the diaphragm means of each pair facing each other for tightly engaging from said opposite sides the goods being passed through said passage dening means, said diaphragm means having those passages thereof which face each other provided-'with a sliding coat comprising ribs extending in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of the goods from said inlet and said outlet, intermediate chamber means interposed between adjacent passage defining means in communication therewith and connected thereto in a pressure-tight' manner, and means respectively communicating with the interior of said chamber means for respectively effecting a pressure reduction in said chamber means so Vthat the pressure drops stepwise from said inlet to said outlet.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS WILLIAM I. PRICE, Primary Examiner U.S. C1. X.R. 34-242; 277-237 

